Online, it runs the gamut from earnest to chaotic: “HBD!!! 🎂🎉” one minute, “another year closer to the warranty expiring, cheers 🎂” the next. Meme-land drops it with “the cake is a lie” when promises fizzle, and it photobombs cheat-day brag posts next to gym selfies for maximum irony. It can be a peace offering after a roast, a sarcastic pat on the back for bare-minimum effort, or a flirty nod to someone’s “cake”—you know the one. Bottom line, it’s sugary shorthand for celebration, drama, and that wish you’re not supposed to say out loud.
On Apple/iOS, it’s a round, frosted showpiece: a white top capped by glossy pink icing that drips picture-perfect down the sides, with multiple striped candles and bright yellow flames. A subtle 3D tilt practically begs, “blow me out before the wax hits the frosting.” The look is clean, vivid, and instantly recognizable—basically the dream party cake you never get at the office because someone always brings the driest sheet cake on Earth.
Function-wise, it’s the internet’s go-to confetti cannon for another lap around the sun—fire it off at 12:00 a.m. alongside balloons and party poppers, then brace for notifications that buzz your phone like a blender. It tags real birthdays, fake half-birthdays, pet birthdays, and Reddit cake day with equal enthusiasm. People also toss it into chats for promotions, graduations, and that brave soul who survived Monday—same vibe, fewer candles. Bonus: it doubles as a wink-nudge for “cake” slang, which can make a perfectly wholesome message… not so wholesome.
Definition
A cake is a frosted layered dessert that is baked. Cakes is traditionally served in celebration of someone's birthday. Although cakes are served at many other events, such as weddings and retirements, this particular cake includes candles, which signifies it as a birthday cake. It is tradition to place lit candles on a birthday cake, sing the "Happy Birthday" song and have the birthday person make a wish and blow out the candles. Naturally, this emoji is used most frequently when a birthday is involved.
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Emoji History The emoji code/ image log of changes.
This emoji was part of the proprietary / non-standardized emoji set first introduced by Japanese carriers like Softbank. These emojis became part of the Apple iPhone starting in iOS 2.2 as an unlockable feature on handsets sold in English speaking countries.
In iOS 5 / OSX 10.7, the underlying code that the Apple OS generates for this emoji was changed.
Emoji General Information
Twitter Emoji Popularity (Rank)
135 of 2393
Apple/iOS Picture
Google Android Picture
Google Hangouts Picture
Twitter.com Picture
LG Emoji Picture
Samsung Emoji Picture
Phantom Open Emoji Picture
Not created yet
ASCII Conversion
"Short Code" Name
:birthday:
Keywords
Birthday, Birth, Cake, Dessert, Wish, Celebrate
Unicode Category Information
Unicode Category
Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs
Unicode Range
1F300–1F5FF
Unicode Subcategory
Celebration Symbols
Editorial Comment
A white frosting birthday cake with lots of candles. It's a party!
